Malik’s speech at SL-S’pore Business forum

Following is the full text of the speech delivered  by Sri Lanka’s Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama at the Sri Lanka -Singapore Business forum held at the Shangri-LA Hotel in Colombo yesterday.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. The theme of today’s forum – ‘Unlocking a New Era of Partnership’ – is very appropriate and very timely. The signing of the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement between Singapore and Sri Lanka yesterday has truly unlocked a new era for both our countries.

For Sri Lanka, this is a landmark agreement. It is the first trade agreement that Sri Lanka has forged in over 10 years. It is also the first comprehensive agreement for Sri Lanka, which means it’s the first agreement that goes beyond goods, and includes services, investment, economic cooperation, e-commerce etc. And to have done our first comprehensive agreement with Singapore – a country regarded as being one of the most open and liberalized economies and having high-quality institutions – is an especially important milestone for our country. It signals the commitment of our government to usher in an era of openness for Sri Lanka, and become a formidable economic Hub in the Indian Ocean.

The Singapore-Sri Lanka FTA is part of a broader strategy of looking East to renew our trade relationships. While we focus on growing and sustaining in our traditional markets of the US and Europe, we have begun to diversify our markets towards Asia and focus on plugging in to Asian supply chains. This FTA is our first agreement with a South East Asian country – and we envisage this as a first step towards closer integration with ASEAN, and potentially be part of the RCEP – Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in the future.

This agreement is an important part of the new ‘National Trade Policy’ launched last year, and is a linchpin in the ongoing trade policy reforms. To complement this, we are also committed to domestic reforms to make Sri Lanka internationally competitive.

For the benefit of our visiting friends from the Singaporean business community, let me highlight some important policy initiatives that are underway.

Under the leadership of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe, our Government has taken numerous initiatives to re-orient the economy, and make Sri Lanka a respected and formidable player in the Asian region once again.

The focus of the government is to shift the economic growth model from one that was heavily dependent on debt-fuelled public infrastructure spending, to growth driven more by private enterprises, exports, and foreign direct investment.

Attracting foreign investment is a key priority of the country right now, and this is where a lot of our policy initiatives are being undertaken.

The Board of Investment is now reorienting itself to become much more responsive to investors needs and it is headed by private sector leaders with a track record of international business expertise. The approvals and facilitation process for foreign investors is now more streamlined, with decisions being taken quicker and more transparently than ever before.

We are also committed to improving the ease of doing business. By next year you will see the results – on registering a new business, finding land and registering property, and easier international trade through an ‘Electronic Single Window’.

To leverage on our location and expand market access, we are signing a number of trade agreements with other countries. In addition to the agreement with Singapore, we will soon finalize comprehensive FTAs with India and China. We also recently regained the GSP Plus trade concessions to the European Union and have an ongoing trade and investment framework agreement with the United States and Australia.

Through our preferential market access, anyone locating in Sri Lanka would be able to access nearly 3 billion people – we are probably one of the very few countries in the world that can claim this!

With our excellent strategic location, we have also become attractive for Belt and Road projects from China. The new Logistics and Industrial Zone in the south of the country – in Hambantota – is being developed with Chinese investment and we expect a lot of investor interest in this. Three other industrial zones are also being setup, including one in partnership with the Rojana Corporation of Thailand. We invite Singaporean firms to invest in these zones, and to do business here – to access the South Asian region and beyond.

On the exports front, we are launching a ‘National Export Strategy’ next month with a focus on competitiveness and diversification. The aim is to build more and more export brands from Sri Lanka – ranging from high value and high quality food and beverages, to leisure boats, IT services, and electronic components. A new national ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategy’ is also being launched soon, which will have programmes to support technology upgrading, startups, and collaborative innovation. We are fully aware that without a focus on these areas we cannot go from middle income to high income, like what Singapore managed to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, Singapore has emerged as an important partner for Sri Lanka over the years. Singaporean state institutions and private companies are involved in infrastructure development, urban design, manufacturing, tourism, and technical training. Singaporean agencies have helped with the digitization of our Inland Revenue Department, which is already demonstrating results in terms of administrative efficiency and revenue collection. We are working closely with International Enterprise Singapore to help forge bilateral investment linkages. Moreover, International Enterprise Singapore and the Temasek Foundation are working with our Export Development Board to benchmark good practices and impart valuable lessons on how to enhance our services to exporters. Meanwhile, many Singaporean companies have been successfully operating in Sri Lanka for many years.

It is now an opportune time to take our partnership to new heights.

In conclusion, let me thank you for visiting our country and your interest in exploring business and investment opportunities here. I am sure you will forge plenty of productive partnerships in Sri Lanka, and our team at the Ministry, at the BOI and EDB will provide effective facilitation for you.

Thank you.